A Remotely Delivered, Semaglutide-Supported Specialist Weight Management Program: Preliminary Findings From a Retrospective Service Evaluation

Background: Digital weight management interventions have the potential to increase access to novel pharmacotherapy for people living with obesity. At present, there is limited real-world evidence on the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of this type of intervention. Objective: This retrospective service evaluation examines real-world data to evaluate the preliminary impact of Second Nature’s 24-month, remotely delivered, semaglutide-supported weight management intervention for adults living with obesity at 12 weeks. Methods: Retrospective data were extracted in October 2023 for participants who started the intervention between June 8, 2023, and July 22, 2023. The primary outcomes were weight change (kg) and percentage of weight change at 12 weeks. The secondary outcomes were the proportion of participants who achieved ≥5% and ≥10% weight loss and the feasibility and acceptability of this type of intervention. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the baseline characteristics, retention, engagement, prevalence of side effects, and weight change. A paired 2-tailed t test was used to determine the significance of weight change. Content analysis was used to analyze the free-text questionnaire responses. Results: A total of 113 participants with a mean baseline BMI of 38.4 kg/m2 (SD 7.3) were included in the analysis (n=102, 90.4% women, mean age 46.6, SD 11.1 years). Over 12 weeks, 23% (n=26) of participants withdrew from the intervention. A total of 70.8% (n=80) of participants provided weight data at 12 weeks. The average weight loss observed over this 12-week period was 6.5 (SD 4.4) kg (P